Lawmakers in Tallahassee are turning their attention to a neurodegenerative disease that is alleged to have affected a former orthopedic surgeon at Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside for years before he stopped practicing.

According to the lawsuits, the doctor’s impairment was obvious yet the hospital didn’t stop him from operating.

As the year nears its conclusion, here are some of the biggest I-TEAM investigations from 2022.

A top executive for Ascension St. Vincent’s must testify at a deposition as the health system defends hundreds of medical malpractice lawsuits focused on a former orthopedic surgeon at their Riverside hospital.

A judge has found that plaintiffs submitted enough evidence to permit a jury to conclude that top executives at St. Vincent’s Hospital were grossly negligent when they didn’t stop an orthopedic surgeon from operating despite a pattern of serious complications and reports of the doctor slurring his speech and behaving erratically.

The News4JAX I-TEAM has learned an appeals court ruled seven St. Vincent’s employees must produce more than 2,700 text messages and images on their personal phones referencing a former orthopedic surgeon at the center of hundreds of malpractice lawsuits.

One of the plaintiffs’ attorneys told News4JAX they have filed 377 lawsuits so far, and they expect there to be about 100 more.

A judge has found a top executive at Ascension St. Vincent’s was personally involved in issues at the center of hundreds of lawsuits accusing a surgeon of malpractice— even though the executive claimed under oath that he wasn’t.

Legal filings from the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings show St. Vincent’s Medical Center has agreed to accept liability and participate in arbitration proceedings for the purpose of determining damage amounts in at least a few of the hundreds of lawsuits filed against the health system and a former orthopedic surgeon there.

The News4JAX I-TEAM has obtained an audio recording cited by plaintiffs in recently filed court documents where a former Ascension St. Vincent’s orthopedic surgeon can be heard slurring his speech during an office visit.

There’s an update to a News4JAX I-TEAM investigation into a former orthopedic surgeon at Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside hospital whose facing hundreds of malpractice lawsuits.

In an update to a News4JAX I-TEAM investigation, a woman Friday said she received a knee replacement from Dr. David Heekin, who formerly practiced at Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside hospital, that left her legs different lengths.

Nearly 350 lawsuits have been filed against a former orthopedic surgeon in Jacksonville, alleging he caused hundreds of injuries while operating with a neurological condition that caused him to slur his speech and lose his balance.